Gary Bowyer insists he isn’t feeling the pressure as the Championship title race hots up.
Dundee sit just two points behind league leaders Queen’s Park with a chasing pack of Ayr United, Partick Thistle and Morton breathing down their necks.
With the campaign’s finishing line in sight, it seems certain the Championship promotion battle will reach a nerve-shredding conclusion.
However, while Dens boss Bowyer is determined Dundee will be top of the pile come the end of the season and retains a fierce will to win every game, he also admits he looks at the bigger picture and everything else that is happening around the world when considering the real meaning of pressure.
Pressure
The 51-year-old, who saw his side bounce back by winning at Cove Rangers on Saturday after a disappointing defeat last midweek to Partick, stated: “I think the word ‘pressure’ gets bandied around too easily in football.
“Pressure for me is people who don’t have a roof over their head.
“I look at it a little bit more logically than the emotional reaction that there seems to be in football.
“There are wars going on for example, where’s your next meal coming from, that’s pressure. We are ultimately playing a game of football.
“Don’t get me wrong, we all want to win.
“I have said all along that whatever we do – and it’s how I have been brought up – you want to win.
“We go through the process and understand the process but the obvious outcome is we want to win the game.
“Since the turn of the year, performances have been good bar the Partick game but the results overall need to be better.
“The players themselves know exactly that.”
Switching off
While he is not feeling the pressure of the promotion race, Bowyer admitted that living in Scotland can help him switch off when he needs to from the game he loves.
Football has been an ever-present factor in his life, with his dad Ian a Nottingham Forest legend who twice lifted the European Cup in a glittering career.
However, Bowyer Jnr admits it is sometimes a welcome distraction to take time out and visit the sights in and around Dundee.
The former Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford and Salford City boss added: “Since I have come up here I have been able to switch off better because of the beautiful area we live in.
“It’s great to go over to St Andrews or someone will say, have you popped in to see there?’.
“So rather than sit in my flat and write down 68 different formations or 68 different teams, I have been able to go to different places like Anstruther, which was beautiful.
“Now the nights are getting lighter it gives me the opportunity to do that if I need to.
“For me it is very difficult to completely come away from the game because I love it so much.
“For example, the other night I was watching Barcelona v Real Madrid but I wasn’t looking to try and sign one of their players!
“That was purely from a fan’s perspective.
“Football has been part of me since I was born because of my dad obviously.
“But I have not had any problems coming away from the game, more so since I have come up here which has been good.”
Conversation